This publication is the result of a collaboration between two outstanding artists, the poet Theoklis Kouyialis and the painter Christophoros Savva. It was a collaboration that left its mark on the cultural development of Cyprus, in the period after independence. And this is because it was the first time that a collaboration of this kind took place in the modern history of the arts and letters of the country.

Τhey both shared the view that poetry and painting should each keep its autonomy. For this reason they avoided giving their venture the conventional form of a book, where poetry and its illustration appear separately on opposite pages. And indeed Christophoros’ work was not a mere illustration of the poems. The form they finally chose as most appropriate for their collaboration had as a model the Livre d’ Artiste (Artist’s Book).

The Culture Department of the Ministry of Education and Culture announces that the Cyprus Pavilion at the58thVeniceBiennaleof Art will presenta posthumous exhibition of works bytheartist Christoforos Savva (1924 – 1968).The idea of a thorough presentation of Christoforos Savvas’ work at the Venice Biennale emerged through a series of concurrences.

The current year marks a double 50‐year anniversary for Savva, a pioneer of contemporary Cypriotart; in 1968, he was among the six artists representing Cyprus in its first official participation in theVenice Biennale as an independent state; it also makes the 50th anniversary of his premature death,shortly after the vernissage of the exhibition. The intention of the Ministry of Education and Culturetocommemoratethese historicalanniversariescoincidedwithacollaborationproposalbyPointCentre for Contemporary Art, Nicosia, for the presentation of a survey show that would bring Savva’swork to a broader international audience.